By David Droschak It’s unclear when the next United States Golf Association championship will be staged at Country Club of North Carolina, but it’s likely to be sooner than later after the club’s nearly flawless showing during the U.S. Junior Amateur in late July. CCNC hosted more than 250 of the world’s best junior golfers…
By David Droschak Going low has been the rule at the Wyndham Championship since moving to Sedgefield Country Club rather than the exception, with winning scores regularly at 20-under-par or better. The last five Greensboro winners have broken that barrier with Brandt Snedeker firing an opening round 59 in 2018 and last year’s champion Jim…
By David Droschak Spend more than five minutes with Dona Lerner and Kathy Bounds and its evident there is a true division of labor in the well-oiled machine that is the Dona Lerner Golf Academy. Lerner is the face of the business while Bounds is the worker bee. The common ground is a love for…
By David Droschak Hall of fame golf course architect Tom Fazio loves to rattle off his favorite features of mountain golf in North Carolina — hills, terrain, elevation, framing, definition, trees, natural streams, waterfalls. “All of these things come with the territory and then it’s just a matter of how you fit it in, how…
By DAVID DROSCHAK Approaching the two-month mark from its Aug. 12-15 dates, the Wyndham Championship has a game plan that includes its loyal legion of sponsors, tens of thousands of fans and a top-notch field. In other words, normalcy is near for longtime tournament director Mark Brazil, who is celebrating 20 years on the job…
By David Droschak Reaching the top in golf often requires tremendous sacrifices, including long hours on the practice range, a never-ending focus on fundamentals, mental toughness and course management, just to name a few. Macy Pate added one more item to the mix this past year. The Reagan High School freshman and her family had…
By David Droschak Jackson Van Paris has been one of the nation’s top junior golfers the last few years, accustomed to handling pressure situations. So, heading to the 18th hole at Pinehurst No. 2, needing a par on one of the hardest holes on the course to secure the North Carolina 4-A high school men’s…
By David Droschak Considering his stellar work across North Carolina, it’s only fitting that favorite son Tom Fazio would be behind the design work of the first golf course to open in the state in five years. The “new” High Hampton was unveiled in late May to its members, and will start taking resort play…
By David Droschak When Diane Dailey stepped down after three decades as the Wake Forest women’s golf coach she dreamed of playing more golf and of spending quality time with her older sister in the North Carolina mountains. Giving golf lessons and teaching the game that opened so many doors wasn’t necessarily in the cards.…
Tommy Gibson has made his mark in North Carolina golf over the last decade. He’s one of the more successful players on the Carolinas PGA circuit and has held positions at such prestigious clubs as Quail Hollow, Charlotte Country Club and for the last five years at Old Town Club in Winston-Salem. But a little…